WR Andre Caldwell is the highest-profile junior returning to Gainesville next year, with LB Brandon Siler, S Reggie Nelson, DE Jarvis Moss and CB Ryan Smith all announcing they will enter the NFL Draft.

It’s perfectly understandable that three of our NFL-ready players — sorry, Ryan — want to cash in with the Gators on top of the football world. While it’s sad to see them go, on paper, they’ve accomplished the ultimate goal, and it’s certainly hard to leave NFL money on the table.

Along those lines, WATB is moving on, too. As a Gator, I will never again reach this level of athletic bliss. Two years ago, this blog started with the Gators clinging to optimism, just months removed from the previous coach’s reign of terror. We all had high hopes for Urban Meyer, especially with that wonderful “Meyer in his second year” stat, but even the most partisan Gator must have had some doubt a national championship would come so soon. Lord knows I did.

Fast forward to today, and we’re at the top of the mountain. The view’s great up here, and I want to enjoy it. So I’m hanging up the keyboard.

I’ve always been a fan of going out on top — you might remember the quiet retirement of the WATB Hoops blog after the Gators’ tourney run last spring — but there are certainly some other factors. Two years ago, I was a second-year law student with plenty of time to be thorough and witty enough to pump out quality material and an overproduced weekly podcast. These days, though, real life as a practicing attorney often gets in the way.

Don’t get me wrong, my enthusiasm for the Gators and UF hasn’t diminished a bit. In fact, I’m a bigger Gator now than at any point of my life, undergrad years included. While I’ll continue my habit of combing the web each morning to submerse myself in all things Gator, I just don’t have the time to publish the blog you all deserve.

While I shut things down on the content side, the blog’s full archives will remain online indefinitely. It’s fun to take a trip back in time to the Meyer Era’s beginnings, and you’ll be able to do so for a while. Feel free to poke the blog’s dead body all you want.

Almost 2.5 million visitors have checked in over the last two years, and I thank everyone who kept WATB in their bookmarks and news readers. I thank the thousands of readers who have taken the time to share ideas, links and comments about the greatest football program in the country. I thank my real world circle — especially Jay, Keith, Derrick, Squishy, Joe, Eric, WATB Sr. and Mom WATB — who were always quick to share a tip, link or support. I thank the newspaper and university personnel who let me know this little blog might actually have a little influence. I thank Ray Hines and the Gator Country staff who gave me amazing exposure and support.

But most importantly, I thank the University of Florida. The experience of being a Gator — scholastically, socially and as a sports fan — has made me who I am today. The University of Florida is why this blog, and the Gator Nation, exist. The greatness of a UF diploma is why we walk around with our heads higher than graduates of other schools. We are from a better place. We are champions.

We are the boys from old Florida.